Stars of Charon (Legacy of the Thar'esh Book 1) (5 page)

“Unusual?”
Ju-lin sat up, her interest piqued.

“Yes,”
Lee nodded toward his son. “Marin intercepted a coded wave that Growd sent up
to the orbital relay. The message was addressed to MineWorks corporate.”

From what
I could recall from my nights with the Slate, signals could not be sent
directly through the flux points that ships traveled between worlds, so
colonies relied on an unmanned long range communications courier drones. If the
colony needed to send a message, they could send a priority signal to the
unmanned orbital communications relay, and it would dispatch a communication
drone to the destination and deliver the message.

“Intercepted?”
Ju-lin’s eyebrows raised and she looked over at Marin, amused. “You? Mr. Legalist?”

“As Dad
points out, we’re far from the umbrella of the Protectorate’s law.” Marin was
clearly proud of himself for bending the rules. “When we docked at the orbital
terraforming station I got access to their Comsat system and added a coded
redundancy.”

“You
bugged MineWork’s orbital monitoring station?” Ju-lin leaned back in her seat.
“Okay brother, I’m almost impressed.”

“What did
you find?” I tried to make the question sound as nonchalant as possible. My
mind burned with questions:
Did they know where I came from? Had they found
others like me?

All three
paused and looked at me, startled by the unintended urgency in my voice.

“Expecting
something?” Lee gave me a long and probing look.

I was
silent. Lee continued, watching me as he spoke

“They
found some kind of ruins buried in a hillside. Growd’s report didn’t include
any pictures or vids. He says that the terraforming had scoured most of it and
that there isn’t much left, but some stonework remains. He seems to be certain
that whatever is there is very, very old, but dating the area is impossible
because the terraforming process corrupted any carbon on the site.”

“What
kind of ruins? Did it say?” I blurted out, though I wanted to be quiet and
patient, I found I couldn’t help myself.

“No, his
report didn’t provide any details,” Lee either didn’t notice, or chose to
ignore my anxiousness. “He did, however, find what he thinks is some sort of
writing. He notes that he intends to get a scanning crew down there within the
week because, in his words: ‘it may be here after all’.”

“It?”
Ju-lin asked. “What is
it
?”

“That’s
my question,” Lee answered. “He’s sent the same message twice more over the
following days. Whatever it is, he wants to make sure that MineWorks gets the
message.”

“This is
all well and interesting,” Ju-lin broke in. “But we’re not archeologists or
linguists. Hell, I barely passed basic human history.”

“Ah, but
you’re wrong there,” Lee interrupted and turned to look at me. “One of us
is
a linguist.”

Ju-lin
and Marin looked at me, and then exchanged skeptical glances.

“The
kid?” Marin asked.

“Elicio,”
Lee nodded toward me. “When we found you, you didn’t understand a word we said,
I could see it in your eyes. Doctor Chen did some scans. He couldn’t find any
brain trauma, and he saw a high level of activity in Brocha’s area: the
language center of your brain. After we talked in the hospital, I had him
conduct regular scans, and they told a story. As you recovered, you didn’t
remember
how to speak Common. You learned it.”

My mind
was raced, but I said nothing.

Lee
continued, “When Chen noticed it, he thought that it was some kind of anomaly,
some side effect of an unidentified trauma, a concussion, or other traumatic
event that caused memory loss. But when we looked at the scans your brain
activity was consistent with language acquisition.”

“He was
only in the hospital for a little over two months before he was released,”
Ju-lin said. “And he talked to you after two weeks. You’re telling me he taught
himself to be fluent in Common after a few weeks of lying in a bed?”

“More or
less,” Lee answered. “Eli, I looked through the search logs on your Slate. At
the end of every day you started making seemingly random searches. At first I
thought it was just that, random. But then I put it together. You were learning
the language as you went.”

All three
McCulloughs sat quietly, waiting for me to say or do something. All I could
manage was a nod.

“I don’t
buy it,” Marin said. “You can’t just learn a language by lying there, you need
to read gestures, context clues. I took a xenolinguistics course at the
academy. Do you have any idea how rare that kind of ability is?”

“They say
that when we first encountered the Collective it took them weeks to learn Common,
but it took us
months
to learn Domari,” Ju-lin countered. “What’s that
face Marin, I said I
almost
failed human history.”

“Yeah,
well, he’s not any subspecies in the Collective,” Marin retorted. “Genetic
scans say Elicio’s one hundred percent Earthborn.”

“Enough,”
Lee silenced then and looked at me. “Speak for yourself.”

“I
learned it,” I paused. “Maybe I re-learned it. But I sure don’t remember any of
it. In the hospital, I wasn’t just lying there. My body was weak, but everyone
was constantly talking to me. At first I had no idea what they were saying, but
after a while it started to make sense. You’re right about the Slate. Once you
let me have it in the hospital learning the language became easier. But, what
you’re talking about, deciphering a written language, it’s not the same thing.
In the hospital I was surrounded by people talking, and I had the Slate to look
things up and help bridge the gap between the spoken and written word. You want
me to go and try to decipher a language off some scratches on a wall?”

“We don’t
even know if it’s language. It could be art. It could be a random natural
occurrence. It could be pornography. We won’t know until you two go and check
it out,” Lee said, his tone shifted as he looked at me intently. “Look, I don’t
know where you came from. But my gut says there may be some kind of connection
there.”

“Between
me and the writing?” I stiffened. Had he somehow guessed where I had come from?

“Don’t
look so nervous,” Lee said, his tone was light and easy. “Listen, I’ve found
that when strange and inexplicable things start happening in the same place at
the same time, that there’s most likely some kind of connection, even if we
don’t understand it at the time. Most of the time we never understand it. But
if you can make sense of the writing, that would be a helluva thing. But that’s
not the only reason I want your help. I called you here because you’re not one
of the colonists. They are a tight-knit group, and they’ve been through a lot.
Did you know that 20 percent of their population died from illness before
MineWorks relocated them? There aren’t many kids, and there aren’t many
grandparents. That’s because the young and old didn’t survive. They don’t trust
outsiders, and with good reason. I’m sure you’ve felt a bit of that yourself.
And if they don’t trust me, I can’t trust them.”

“But you
can trust me?” I asked.

“Let’s
just say I don’t distrust you,” Lee answered. “I’ve been around. I know when a
man is hiding something. And you,” he paused, leveling his gaze at me,
searching my face, “You’re definitely hiding something. But I also know how to
judge a man’s intent and purpose. I’ve worked with enemy agents, double agents,
and deployed a few of my own. Hell, we once had a triple agent aboard a
dreadnaught who confessed to being an enemy agent, and then faked a sabotage
operation to fool the other side, only as a means of getting access to a secure
weapons area so that he could make off with a prototype warhead and use
it
to frame a weapons dealer. That one took some serious time to sort out. I’m
still not sure whose side he was on.

“Those
types of men are different. They have a sense of purpose, misplaced and
convoluted as it may be. You look like you have more questions than answers.”

I felt a
rush of self-confidence and a swell of loyalty toward Lee. I hadn’t realized
that, in my isolation, I had been so hungry for acceptance and approval.

“So what
do you want me to do?” my voice sounded more anxious than I’d intended.

Lee
smiled.

“Based on
his report, Growd’s site is a cave southeast of New Haven. When you walked in,
Ju-lin and I were plotting a clear path to get there. A quiet route beyond the
range of prying eyes. Tomorrow afternoon, you and Ju-lin will take a small
hover-skiff. It will take a few hours overland to get near the site. Hollace
may have it under guard but I doubt it. However, I would expect that they will
be monitoring all electronic activity in a three kilometer circle around the
site from the orbital station. So, at nightfall, you two will park five klicks
away and walk in so that you don’t trigger any tech scans in the area. Then,
you should be able to have a look around without being noticed.

“This is
a simple in and out job. Get in there, take some high-res scans, and slip on
home, then we’ll see what you can figure out. You may not be a trained
linguist, but you’re clearly clever and have a head for languages. See what you
can find. The message was sent a few days ago, so it won’t be long before
MineWorks has a research team swarming the area.”

“Why
bother?” Marin asked. “I mean, MineWorks will take the place apart and figure
it all out anyway.”

“True,
but this is our world, too, and I want to know what we are dealing with.
Besides, if whatever we find is important enough for Hollace to send three
messages to corporate, it’s worth finding out what has him so excited.” Lee
stood up from the table and looked at Marin and me expectantly. That was his
final word.

I got to
my feet.

“Go to
work as usual in the morning, I’ll send someone to pull you off your weeding in
the early afternoon,” Ju-lin nodded toward me. “And take a shower before
meeting me at the garage. I don’t want to be cooped up in the cab of the skiff
with someone who smells like stale fertilizer.”

“Sure,” I
replied, smiling stupidly at her insult. I was too busy grappling with the
sudden joy that came with my new sense of belonging. It was as if Lee’s trust
and knowing kindness had filled a void within me that I hadn’t known existed. I
felt simple, childlike, and happy.

“I will
put in an authorization for Ju-lin to take one of the fast skiffs,” Marin said.
“I’ll say that you are verifying security grid scanners. Elicio is a strong
back in case you need to do some digging. That way you can take some survey
scanning equipment with you and nobody will raise an eyebrow.”

“Settled,”
Lee said. “Elicio, I’m glad to have your help. You have a quick mind. Quick
minds are useful.”

I thanked
him.

“Now,
Elicio and Marin, please see yourself out. We’ll sit down again when you’re
back to go over what you found. Lin, to your room, and so help me, keep the
music down.”

When I
returned to the barracks nobody questioned me, but I could tell Jager and Boils
wanted to. I smiled to myself in the darkness, anxious for the following day.

Chapter 8.

We
stood on opposite ends of the field at dawn, at least eighty paces apart.
Barefoot, as was the custom. Across the tall grasses our eyes met and held.
Though her features are shadowed in my memories, I knew she was beautiful. My
certainty of her love came like an echo.

I took
one step. She took one as well. When I took another, she did the same. For
forty paces, we kept the slow and even pace. The slowness was agony. The
slowness was tradition. In each step, our eyes never wavered. We were locked
together in silence.

On my
thirty second step I nearly stumbled. My nerves were getting the best of me. I
was ashamed. Then on her thirty-second, she stumbled as well. Her purple eyes
smiled. I had loved her since we were children, but I loved her even more in
that moment. She would always find the places to fit in the smallest
kindnesses. On our fortieth step our eyes parted as we passed.
Shoulder-to-shoulder.

“As
spirits we pass without touching, and in passing are eternally bound.” we both
said the ancient words as we kept walking. As was tradition.

When I
met Ju-lin at the garage, she had changed out of her work clothes and was
wearing tan pants, a blue shirt, and a fitted dark brown leather jacket. It was
a little warm out for the jacket, but she didn’t seem to mind. I noticed that
she was more anxious than usual. Instead of restlessly shuffling her feet, she
was pacing steadily.

“Where
have you been?” She asked as she rolled a rubber band off her wrist and pulled
her hair into a pony tail. “I sent Kuric to get you at least fifteen minutes
ago. How long of a shower did you have to take?”

Instinctively
I put my hand to my hair, smoothing it out.

“Oh
never-mind,” She sighed and stepped toward the hover-skiff. “Get in. No not
that side, those are controls. I’m sure as hell not going to let you drive.
Hurry up.”

The
powered-down hover-skiff was still sitting on the ground. I opened the door and
slid myself down awkwardly into the seat.

“All
set?” She had settled quickly into her seat and shut her door.

“I guess
so,” I responded. “Anything I should know or do?”

“Enjoy
the ride?” She said playfully as she reached over her shoulder and attached a
safety harness to a latch near her hip.

She
started flipping switches on the control panel and the skiff leaped upward and
began to float. Before it had fully stabilized, Ju-lin grabbed the controls and
jammed the throttle forward, sending the skiff leaping forward. I was pressed
firmly into my seat, and decided it may be a good idea to put on my safety
harness.

Within
seconds we were outside of the Downs. She easily wove between trees with inches
to spare as we crossed the valley. I held onto my seat so tightly that my
knuckles were white. My heart was racing in my chest, I was certain that she
had lost control. I had heard the colonists talking about hover accidents:
jammed throttles, or blown actuators, all of which ended with vehicles crashing
to the surface at murderous speeds. I held my breath, ready for death, but it
didn’t come.

I spared
a glance sideways to find that Ju-lin didn’t look worried. In fact, she wore an
easy smile. I was getting used to Ju-lin’s anxious energy: the shifting feet,
the rapid speech, and her universal impatience. But I realized that it wasn’t
truly universal. As she steered the hover across the rugged landscape at
breakneck speeds she looked calm and peaceful. This was her in her element.

“You-you
enjoy this?” I sputtered.

“What’s
not to enjoy?” She laughed loudly we crested a steep rise, sending us further
into the air.

My
stomach was in my throat and my body tensed. The skiff, which is configured to
float about half a meter off the ground, dove down and bottomed out on the
rocky ground before leaping back in the air and leveling out.

She
glanced over at me, flashing a wicked smile.

“You
know, the colonists say you’re just an icy wench,” I said, trying to sound
conversational. “I guess that’s not true.”

She
slammed on the controls, sending the hover into a tight left turn. Caught
unprepared, I slid sideways. The centripetal force pressed my face against the
window.

After
completing two full spins, she righted us back on our path.

“Why did
you do that?” I asked.

“You
really have no idea how to talk to people do you?” She tossed me a sideways
glance.

“I’m
trying to make conversation, what did I say wrong?”

“You’ve
been listening to the grease monkeys in the barracks too much,” She paused and
down-shifted the hover to a more comfortable pace. “You aren’t kidding, are
you? You don’t remember anything from before?”

“Nothing
complete,” I said.

“Nothing
complete?” she repeated. “That means you remember something, but you didn’t
remember Common? I still can’t quite believe that. Though the more I hear you
talk it gets more believable. So, if you remember ‘nothing complete,’ what
do
you remember?”

“I
remember weird things, as if they had happened to someone else.”

“Do you
remember anything about what kind of ship you were on?” I could see her tone
lighten with the mere mention of a ship.

“No,
nothing like that. Memories of walking in fields. Strange alien faces.”

“Aliens?
Maybe the Celestrials captured you and experimented on you or something. They
may be human, but they’re strange looking.”

“I read
about the Celestrials,” I said. “But I haven’t seen a picture to compare.”

“Yeah,
the
Governor
didn’t want to waste precious data storage with images, so
the colony archives are mostly text. So, let’s see. The Skins are humanoid,
more or less like us except they have no hair whatsoever. Smooth skin, angular
faces, big eyes. Serious bastards. Pretty decent pilots though.”

“Skins?”
I asked.

“Slang.
That’s what most of the jocks call them back on Tantatern Station,” she
answered. “That’s where my father was stationed before he resigned from the
fleet. Back before we moved out here to the middle of nowhere. Back where stuff
happened. Back when I had a life.”

She
shifted her grip on the controls.

“You
really don’t like it here, do you?” I asked. “It seems nice. It’s pretty.”

“Pretty.
Yeah, sure,” she responded. “It’s something to look at, but there is nothing to
do
. We’re stuck alone out here. We’re half-dozen fluxes from the nearest
trading lanes, almost a dozen from Nexus, probably twice that from Earth.
Nothing ever
happens
. I want to be out
there
. I want to fly. I
was about to join the fleet when Dad decided to sign us up to be gardeners out
here. Not that I
really
want to join the fleet. Marin cares about all
that, politics, citizenship, expanding the Protectorate. What a load of crap.
All I want is to be free. Not land-locked on a world that doesn’t even have a
paved landing port. The fleet was the only way Dad would have let me go, but
now that he’s moved us out here
that’s
not going to happen.”

I looked
up at the clouds in the sky. A shadow of memory passed over me, I felt a
longing to leave the world and see the stars. I heard an echo of my old
teacher’s voice telling calmly saying the “skies are no longer for us.”

“I guess
I sound a bit mad,” she admitted.

“No,” I
answered, pulling myself out of my memories. “Not at all. You’ve seen the
larger world beyond this place. I can’t imagine having to bottle myself up and
not reach for the edges of the sky after having seen what you have.”

“Maybe
you’ve got a bit of a poet in there somewhere?” Her thin lips curled into an
amused half-smile. “Anyhow, at least this is something. A mysterious cave,
sneaking around at night, it’s the first interesting thing to happen since we
landed on this rock. It’ll probably be nothing. I’ll bet it’s some old fish
fossils in the stone or something. But at least it gets us out of the colony
for a bit.”

“And
gives you a chance to drive?” I smiled.

“There is
that,” she slammed the throttle down, once again pressing me into my seat.

Our route
took us in a broad loop around the other colonies, to bring us in on the far
side of New Haven. As we traveled, I saw that Ju-lin had been right about the
terraforming. Though it was late spring and we’d had a good amount of rain,
everywhere I looked there were brown and dying trees. There was evidence of
mudslides on the steeper hills. What had been a lush paradise just months
before was beginning to look like a land cursed by drought and blight.

Our
destination was on the edge of a stand of aspen trees. Tucked away in a small
valley, the aspens were tall and healthy. They quaked softly from side to side
as their leaves clattered in the evening breeze. We sat on the hover and ate
our dinner of dehydrated vegetables and dried meat. It was standard fare. It
would still be a few weeks before we had the first harvest of vegetables from
the fields.

“The
locator puts us about six kilometers out,” Ju-lin commented, looking down at
her handheld. “From the SatMaps it looks like a bit of an uphill climb, so we
shouldn’t waste too much time. I have some night-vision gear for the trip back,
but I’d rather get up there before it gets dark so we can scope the place out
and make sure nobody is there.”

“I think
I’m ready,” I packed up what was left of my dinner and stood up.

“Have the
scanner?”

“Yeah,” I
answered as I hefted the pack onto my back, I had to fight to keep my balance
under its weight. “And the field scope, first aid kit, spare rations, water,
and about two dozen gadgets I’ve never seen before.”

She
smiled sweetly and stepped behind me to reach into a side pocket of the
backpack and pulled out a smooth device.

“Like
that one, what is it?” I asked.

“This,”
She held up a small cylinder, “is a modified plasma torch.” Like most of the
tools, it was made of high-grade ceramics, about ten centimeters long. She
pointed it at me. The end had a steel firing bore about the width of my thumb,
and in front of the bore was a silver pin. She flipped her thumb and a yellow
cartridge dropped out from the handle into her other hand. “The cartridge has a
chemical cocktail that gets shot out the end. The little pin on the end sparks
it up. It’s designed for metalworking and welding, but I decided to have some
fun, so I super-pressurized this one. Instead of a small, controlled stream,
this one spits out one big wad of superheated plasma.”

My eyes
widened.

“Oh don’t
look at me like that,” she jammed the cartridge back in the torch and slipped
it in her belt. “A girl has to make her own fun around here. I brought it on
the off chance we run into trouble, not that it’s likely. I can’t imagine they
have someone guarding cave paintings in the middle of nowhere, and as far as I
know MineWorks didn’t introduce any predators onto the world larger than a
tree-fox.”

“What’s a
tree-fox?” I asked.

“Oh
lord,” she sighed and gestured to the west. “Let’s talk and walk.”